The Sports Xchange
May 19, 2017
CINCINNATI -- Alexi Amarista hit a three-run home run and Nolan Arenado added a two-run shot to lift the Colorado Rockies to a 12-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Great American Ball Park.
Tyler Anderson (3-4) earned the victory after allowing two runs and four hits through six innings. He had seven strikeouts, one shy of a season high.
Colorado (27-16) owns the second-most wins in the major leagues and improved to 14-6 on the road.
Eugenio Suarez and Jose Peraza homered for Cincinnati (19-22), which after an encouraging start to the season has lost a season-high seven straight.
Reds starter Lisalverto Bonilla (0-2) seemingly had overcome a rough first inning. He was cruising when he was hit on his throwing hand while attempting a bunt in the fifth inning. Things unraveled for him after that.
In the sixth, Bonilla allowed three straight hits, including Amarista's sky-high three-run home run, to give the Rockies a 5-1 lead. It was Amarista's second homer of the season.
DJ LeMahieu's two-run double off Wandy Peralta made the score 7-1. Arenado followed with his 11th homer of the season to give the Rockies a 9-1 lead.
Colorado sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth and collected nine hits leading to eight runs, the most the Reds had allowed in an inning since July 26, 2015, also against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Cincinnati scored twice in the seventh off right-hander Jordan Lyles when Billy Hamilton doubled to drive in a run, then raced around third and scored when Ian Desmond's errant throw home skipped away from catcher Tony Wolters.
Peraza's first home run of the season was a two-run shot off Lyles in the eighth, making the score 10-6. But, Mark Reynolds' two-run single in the ninth got those two runs right back.
Bonilla had a rough first inning, allowing two runs on three hits. He also hit a batter. The Rockies could've done more damage but settled for Reynolds' bloop RBI single to right with the bases loaded and Carlos Gonzalez's sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0.
Bonilla put the rocky first inning behind him and allowed just one hit over the next four innings, with two walks and two strikeouts.
Anderson, the Rockies' first-round selection in 2011, allowed two hits through four innings, both by Suarez, who hit a towering solo homer to left in the fourth to cut the Reds' deficit to 2-1. It was his eighth homer of the season.
Cincinnati had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth, but Anderson struck out Hamilton, and Patrick Kivlehan was caught stealing at third for an inning-ending double play.
NOTES: Rockies SS Trevor Story began a minor-league rehab assignment Friday for Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Reds C Devin Mesoraco is expected back in the lineup on Saturday or Sunday. He struck out as a pinch-hitter Friday, his first appearance since Sunday due to a hamstring injury. ... Reds RHP Tim Adleman is expected to make Saturday's scheduled start after leaving his last outing with neck tightness. ... Cincinnati's seven-game losing streak is its longest since an 11-game skid in May of last year. ... Rockies SS Alexi Amarista tied a career high with four RBIs, accomplished four times.